Country music fans Josh Kemp, from Corona, and Carrie Williams, from Yucaipa, stay warm next to a fire pit as Clint Black performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

This weekend’s Tailgate Fest was the kind of like “Parking Lot Party” a song one of its stars, Lee Brice, sang about in the middle of his set on Saturday.

A recording of the anthem also got blasted from the stage between sets on Sunday.

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A country music fan listens to Craig Campbell as he performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fan Jesse Arredondo guzzles a beer through a beer bong held by his friend Karina Preciado, both from Menifee, in the tailgate parking area during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Country music fans Kayla Robles, from Ontario, Morgan Iwasaki, from Chino Hills, and Stephanie Bettess, from Rancho Cucamonga, all shotgun beers in the tailgate parking area during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Sean and Ashley O’Conner, from Hemet, cool off with friends in the wading pool during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Eric Cepeda, from Los Angeles, dances with Milena Greeney, from Dana Point, on the wading pool deck during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Eric Cepeda, from Los Angeles, dances with Milena Greeney, from Dana Point, on the wading pool deck during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fan Tanner Nicks, from Dana Point, plays corn hole with friends in the tailgate parking lot during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music artist Craig Campbell performs on the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans listen to Craig Campbell as he performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Josh Kemp, from Corona, and Carrie Williams, from Yucaipa, stay warm next to a fire pit as Clint Black performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Jacob Akins, 4 from Yorba Linda, dances with his mother Christina during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn performs along side young fans Kaleah Serratos, 9 from Lake Matthews, and Annabell Massingill, 8 from Norwalk, during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

LoCash’s Chris Lucas (left) and Preston Brust perform during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Kerri Dill, from Temecula, stands on hay bails as a friend takes her picture near the stage on the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Cesar Schnitd and Heather Glavoski, both from Hermosa Beach, share a moment together as LoCash performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Josh Kemp, from Corona, and Carrie Williams, from Yucaipa, stay warm next to a fire pit as Clint Black performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge (left) performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn pulls Annabell Massingill, 8 from Norwalk, up on stage as she performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist Brett Eldredge performs as he closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

DJ Bad Ash dances with Eric Cepeda in between bands during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn performs along side young fans Kaleah Serratos, 9 from Lake Matthews, and Annabell Massingill, 8 from Norwalk, during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country artist and former The Voice contestant RaeLynn performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Courtney Jelski, from Orange, watches as Clint Black performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

LoCash’s Chris Lucas (left) and Preston Brust perform during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A country music fan sleeps in the back of a pickup truck during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

DJ Bad Ash dances with Eric Cepeda in between bands during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans Josh Kemp, from Corona, and Carrie Williams, from Yucaipa, stay warm next to a fire pit as Clint Black performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans watch from their truck as Brett Eldredge closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

LoCash’s Preston Brust performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

LoCash’s Preston Brust drinks a beer on stage as he performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Cesar Schnitd and Heather Glavoski, both from Hermosa Beach, share a moment together as LoCash performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans enjoy themselves as LoCash performs during the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Country music fans watch from their truck as Brett Eldredge closes out the final day of Tailgate Fest in Eastvale Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Sign up for our Festival Pass newsletter. Whether you are a Coachella lifer or prefer to watch from afar, get weekly dispatches during the Southern California music festival season. Subscribe here.

Festival goers set up awnings at their cars, filled long folding tables with beer and snack chips, and put wading pools on the ground to soak their feet as they listened to such artists such as Tyler Farr.

With security limiting access to streets around Leal Ranch and traffic flowing despite occasional jams, Eastvale leaders in the audience declared the event a success as early as Saturday afternoon.

The producers declined to give attendance numbers for the event but in July told Eastvale leaders that the festival attracted 10,000 people to the Forum in Inglewood last year and they expected more for Eastvale.

“Everyone is having a great time and traffic seems to be mitigated at its potential,” Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Plott wrote in an email sent Saturday. “Very Excited! This is an absolute win thus far.”

But some ticket buyers had qualms.

Corona resident Kevin Williams said that the festival didn’t live up to its promise on its website, which says tailgaters will be able to “watch their favorite performers from their personal party set ups at their vehicles.”

He was one of the first to arrive Saturday morning. He and his friends, a support group for Route 91 Harvest Festival survivors, parked in the first row of the VIP tailgate lot, which cost $349 per person. They found their views obstructed by a row of vendors between the tailgaters and the stage.

“We’re not tailgating,” he said, noting that guests have to enter the festival’s fenced-off area, unlike what they were able to do the first Tailgate Fest at the Forum in Inglewood last September.

“I was able to park my truck and I was able to see the stage. VIP and Super VIP were literally wrapped around and there was nothing blocking us but a 4-floor fence.”

Back in general admission, Steve Smith of La Mirada was sitting with his family in lounge chairs elevated on the flatbed of their pickup as Craig Campbell kicked off Sunday’s show.

“Technically, I can see the stage, but there are too many flags and banners and things.”

Although both crowds and artists were feeling the heat Sunday afternoon, in the VIP section crowds were having fun in the sunshine, hanging out at a pool set up for the event and batting around beach balls in front of the stage.

Sunday’s lineup was a little more mellow than Saturday’s, with headliner Brett Eldredge preceded onstage by Clint Black. Other artists included Hardy, LoCash, and Raelynn, who made a claim for her own song as the weekend’s anthem. It’s lyrics included, “Tailgate, don’t tell on me.”

Fielding Buck has been a business reporter since 2014 with a focus on logistics, supply chain and GIS. Prior experience includes extensive entertainment reporting. He loves photography and dogs and lives in San Bernardino County.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.